School Drop-off Limbo

three kids, three schools, three different schedules

With both kiddos now officially back to school, we’re adapting to our new schedule.  One major wrinkle in time happens on the mornings when I drop my daughter at her school and then have 45 minutes before it’s time to drop off my son at his school, which is only 10 minutes away.  Occasionally we deliver friends to their schools as well.

I hope that your town is different, but here in Little Rock, most businesses open at 9am.  That makes it hard to find ways to fill those 45 minutes between schools in the morning.  I call this school drop-off limbo, and I’m assuming I’m not the only mom in the world who has this type of schedule. I’ve been working on a list of things to do to fill that time.

• Playgrounds – visit a playground and blow off some early morning steam – you’ll likely have the place to yourself!  You can use the Play Space Finder at kaboom.org to help you find parks and playgrounds along your school-to-school route.
• Yard Sales – on Thursday and Friday mornings, you can be the first customer at area yard sales.  You’ll score the best stuff, and maybe even give junior a chance to learn about quarters and nickles. I have an app on my Droid phone called Garage Sale Rover that pulls in garage sale listings from Craigs List and other sources and shows them on a map.
• Grab a Quick Breakfast – of course breakfast restaurants and doughnut shops are open for business in the morning, and some fast food places like Chik Fil A have a complementary playground to go along with your meal.  A good idea for when the weather is not accommodating for outside play
• Grocery and Drug stores – Most grocery and drug stores are 24 hour or at least open by 8am.  In our area, that includes Walgreens, Kroger, and Whole Foods. So get what you need for tonight’s dinner or pick up a prescription along the way.
• Dry Cleaner – If you need to drop off or pick up drycleaning, most of them are open early to catch the on-the-way-to-work crowd.
• Drive-thrus – Some businesses that aren’t open early still have services that you can drive through to access: Bank ATMs, the library book drop, DVD rental returns (and Redbox), and here in Little Rock the Tropical Smoothie on Rodney Parham has a drive thru that is open 24 hours.  It’s right along our route.  Uh oh.
• Fill’er Up – It’s best to pump your gas when temperatures are cooler, as you’ll get more gas and less fume for your $. So those morning hours before it warms up are a great time to do it.  Gas is generally cheaper during the week than on weekends, with Wednesday mornings usually being the most frugal time to pump.

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